I have been doing the music thing for 8 years. I have been self employed for 3 years now. Like, full-time self-employment. ITS HARD. It took me 5 years to get to the point where music was supporting me.

To write out the whole journey and what I have learned thus far would take months, so over the next year, I am going to try and do that. Each blog will have some humble wisdom. Things that I learned from probably failing in a major way. I hope that something speaks to you. If it does, please let me know. Affirmation is my love language.

so here we go.

1. Don't lie, be honest.

Something I need to state from the start...

I need you to know that I struggle and fail more times then I win. I work super hard on my life and marriage and my music. Being honest about that is hard, but its the only way to live.

The most alarming thing about lying, is it seems to split your identity into multiple parts.

When we lie, we are saying we are not good enough as a person or sufficient enough to have value to others. Our opinions, thoughts, work we have done thus far in life, is not enough. We believe this false idea so much in our subconscious that we will literally fabricate things into existence that do not exist in this reality. That is what I call lying.

Seriously, be honest. In all things. Life is full of chances to embellish, to take credit for something you didn't fully do; to talk up an experience.

Maybe its an artist you know or a person you say you know a little more then you actually do.

It always comes back and it bites you hard. It always catches up.

I am guilty of lying. So I apologize to those I have done it to. I don't do it very much anymore, thank the Lord. If I do, I usually catch myself quickly as the words begin to come out of my mouth. This comes from training. Its hard. It comes from trusting that you are good enough, which you are. It comes from learning that you do things that no one else can do in this world and thats special.

I have embellished things in my life. Its a daily commitment for me to not lie. I can honestly say that over the last few years I learned in a very hard way, but good way, that being myself and honesty is the only way I have been able to find my place and identity in the music industry and life.

I want to encourage you to take a hard look at yourself. Tell yourself that what you do right now is good enough. That the gifts and talents that you have are exactly what they need to be. This doesn't mean we stop growing or learning, but it does mean that we stop telling ourselves that we need to make up things to find acceptance, to have an identity.

I want you to be you, I want to know the honest truth about you and what you do. I have a curiosity about what you do. Don't lie to me about something you haven't done. Thats boring. Thats fake and thats not who we are suppose to be as humans. We need you, to be you:)